Steam 2027 RPG drops gorgeous free taster that screams classic Zelda

As enthralling as sprawling, photorealistic open-world RPGs can be, there’s something so soothing about playing a pixel-art take on the genre that echoes back to the classics of yesteryear.

It’s a delight to see that developers are still tapping into the formula popularised by early entries of The Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy.

That’s precisely what Half Soup Labs has done with its upcoming 2027 release, Glintseeker Island, which has just dropped a free taster on PC storefront Steam.

This single-player RPG adventure sees you take on the role of a miner who ventures into a cave network in search of both ancient treasures and artefacts.

“Bring your excavated loot safely back to the surface and sell them to the local merchant, or use them to upgrade and enhance your hammers with gemstones at the blacksmith,” reads the synopsis.

“Rest assured, you will need all the help you can get to uncover the island's long-buried secrets and overcome a mysterious threat from below!”

The game almost asks the question, ‘What if Stardew Valley was an RPG?’ as devs note, “If you loved the caves in Stardew Valley, Glintseeker Island takes you on a similar journey.”

Assemble Entertainment

You’ll have a variety of mining tools at your disposal, and you must pick the right tool for the job if you don’t want to break or damage the treasures you’re unearthing.

The type of tool needed is typically determined by whatever rock type you’re digging through, as they have “varying hardness”.

“Beware, with each hammer hit, the wall loses stability and gets closer to collapse,” devs note.

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You won’t immediately begin with every hammer you require. The further players progress, the more tools they’ll acquire, with many boasting unique special abilities.

There’s also a mining minigame to enjoy, varied biomes to explore and, of course, plenty of dangers.

These mines are by no means uninhabited, with players having to face off against challenging bosses, and some puzzles are also positioned to get in the way of your progression.

Such challenges are spaced 10 floors apart, so you won’t constantly be harassed by obstacles.

As for what type of enemies you’ll face, your mining endeavours will disturb ancient guardians who are basically big ol’ rock creatures that wouldn’t look too out of place in a Studio Ghibli film.

There’s plenty of fun to be had above the surface, too. Glintseeker Island tasks you with restoring the village you call home, managing your storage, and upgrading your humble abode.

Perhaps most importantly, there’s a sweet little dog called Shadow that, yes, you can pet.

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There’s an extensive demo available with 15 floors to explore

Glintseeker Island is currently only scheduled to land on Steam, and it hasn’t set a release date beyond the vague promise of 2027.

It has, however, dropped a free demo that all Steam users can try and enjoy now.

The demo shows where the project is after three years in development, granting access to two of the game’s biomes.

You’ll be able to explore 15 cave floors, fight “the Golem in a clever boss battle”, dig up rare artefacts, fossils, and gemstones, unlock and upgrade eight hammers, upgrade your backpack, smelt ingots, crack open geodes, complete eight village repair quests, unlock eight capes with unique effects, solve various puzzles, and hang out with Shadow.

Yes, that’s all in the free demo. One of the fossils you can find is a demo-exclusive, the Soup Fossil, with a 0.2% drop chance.

Save files will not carry over to the full release, but that’s okay, as Glintseeker Island is quite a way off, so it’ll probably be nice to start afresh in 2027. This is not one to miss.